Friday, May 29

We finished reading "The Killers" and discussed it briefly. Why does it stop where it does? Whose story is it? Ole's? Nick's? What is it about?

Then we watched the beginning of The Killers (1946) up to about where the story ends.

HW due Monday:
Single-element essay due.

Thursday, May 28

We continued our analysis of pictorial composition/mise en scene in Citizen Kane, then began reading "The Killers" a short story by Ernest Hemingway preparatory to watching the 1946 film of the same name (directed by Robert Siodmak) which takes that story as its starting point.

HW due Monday:
Outside viewing essay on a single element of film technique as used throughout the assigned film.

Wednesday, May 27

We examined the slippery concept of mise en scene in cinema and analyzed certain scenes of Citizen Kane with an eye to their expressive pictorial composition.

HW due MONDAY:
The due date for the Single Element Analysis essay has been pushed back to Monday, June 1.

Monday, May 26

Students wrote brief comparisons of Citizen Kane to three other movies, and we talked about these comparisons. Afterwards, we illustrated aspects of the selected parts.parts of the film.

Friday, May 22

We watched the conclusion of Citizen Kane and talked about the theme of the film.

HW due next Friday, May 29:
Single-element analysis of an outside-viewing film (min. 800 words). See Documents page for the assignment sheet if you don't have one.

Thursday, May 21

We continued watching Citizen Kane.

Wednesday, May 20

We reviewed the opening scenes of Citizen Kane, then watched another 40 minutes of the film.

Tuesday, May 19

We spoke with Kendra Fowler, a recent Mount Si graduate now studying Screenwriting at the New York Film Academy in Hollywood. She told us about what she has been learning about being a writer in the film & tv industries and showed us her latest 150-page screenplay.

Students turned in their notes on the documentary from yesterday, after which we watched the first quarter-hour of Citizen Kane.

Monday, May 18

Students took notes while we watched the beginning of The Battle Over Citizen Kane, a documentary about Orson Welles and William Randolph Hearst.

Friday, May 15

Students received an assignment sheet for the second outside viewing paper, which will be due Friday, May 29. Several students also borrowed films for the purpose.

Students were advised to review the "Classical Hollywood Style" packet distributed early in the semester before embarking on the paper.

That packet will also be an essential resource for the final exam on Wednesday, June 10. Students will be shown several film clips and asked to analyze the use of specific film elements in each.

Thursday, May 14

We discussed Casablanca, focusing on the relation of the personal (romantic) and political elements of the movie. Students received a handout with a brief essay by Alastaire Cooke on Humphrey Bogart as "the only possible idealist" in the WWII anti-fascist period.

Wednesday, May 13

We watched the rest of Casablanca. Following the film, it was revealed by the Peanut Gallery that the German Major Strasser was played by the same actor (Conrad Veidt) who portrayed Cesare (aka EMO Man) in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, thus earning them the right to inflict upon the class as a whole six minutes of "H3 Montage" to conclude the period.

Tuesday, May 12

We continued watching Casablanca up to 70 minutes in.

Monday, May 11

Mr. Potratz introduced Casablanca by distributing a handout about Vichy France and by playing La Marseillaise over the computer.

Following this introduction to the historical-political background of the film we watched the first twenty minutes of the movie.

Friday, May 8

We watched some more Busby Berkeley production numbers mixing eye candy and social commentary.

Next up: Casablanca

Thursday, May 7

We decided to watch Casablanca next, to be followed by Citizen Kane, though that reverses the chronological order. Citizen Kane is many critics' choice for the greatest American film, while the popular choice for that title may well be Casablanca.

Today we took a "sweet babes" break and sucked on the eye candy (so to speak) of production numbers from the Depression-era Busby Berkeley musicals, replete with racism, sexism, leering and even social commentary.

Wednesday, May 6

We finished watching -- and taking notes on -- the first part of None Without Sin, and students turned in their notes. Then Mr. Potratz answered questions about the content of the film, and we discussed what the film had to teach us about why Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible.

Students received a four-page booklet for taking notes on the the major characters in The Crucible.

Tuesday, May 5

Cinco de Mayo

We watched the rest of City Lights, then rewatched the final scene, entitled "Autumn," while students took notes.

HW due Wednesday:
Two typed paragraphs telling:
(1) what happens in the final scenem and
(2) what do you think will happen next, and why?

Monday, May 4

We began watching Charlie Chaplin's City Lights (1931).

Students received their single-scene analysis papers back.

Friday, May 1

Students took a quiz over pre-Code films and the Hays Code, and we graded it together.